You have probably heard all the raves and reviews of both Bitcoin and Ethereum. But what are they anyway? What are their functions? If you don’t know much about them, you might find it tough to understand. So, let’s do a quick overview first. Oh! And we have done a little review on KeepABit.
Bitcoin and Ethereum are cryptocurrencies. A cryptocurrency is like your traditional currency except for the fact that it is traded digitally. The digital currency aka cryptocurrency has no shape or size like the traditional cash and coins all over the world. Any form of currency that isn’t virtual or digital is called the tradition or fiat currency. The difference between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies is that cryptocurrencies are decentralized, this means that they aren’t regulated and manipulated by the government like fiat currencies. Only a user of the cryptocurrency can have the power to trade and use the cryptocurrencies without fearing the bank or the government. This proved to be the most significant advantage for digital currency holders all over the world.
Both currencies were created as a medium of exchange. This means that they are used for trades, transactions, etc. With fiat currency, you have to involve banks, governments in one way or another, whereas cryptocurrency doesn’t let you deal with those as they involve no third parties. Although cryptocurrencies are public and free for everyone to use, the records and transactions are kept secure. These types of currencies use blockchain. Blockchain is a set of systems that holds all the records of digital currencies in a container called a block. Now that we have established what cryptocurrencies are, let’s talk about Bitcoin and Ethereum.
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is one of the most famous cryptocurrencies in the world. It was founded and released in 2009 by an anonymous entity or a group known as Satoshi Nakamoto. The idea was to create a digital currency that would allow people to send and receive money all around the world. Two most amazing aspects of Bitcoin that made it zero to hero almost overnight are, the ability to send or receive money anonymously and the low transaction fee. Fiat money is globally despised because how banks and governments can easily take control of it and manipulate it according to their wish. There’s always the third-party that gets the profit when dealing with fiat money. Bitcoin or cryptocurrency, in particular, removes that third-party and makes it a direct transaction between the buying and selling, and hence they charge low transactional fees.
What is Ethereum?
Ethereum was created in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin. The cryptocurrency provides ether tokens. Ether is used to build and deploy decentralized apps with a back-end code place in a distributed peer connected network. Ether works similarly to Bitcoin and can be used for payments. The dynamic of Ethereum is a little complicated, unlike Bitcoin. To make a payment by Ether, a programming language called Turing is required before adding a block to the blockchain. Ether can also be used to create smart contracts, which follows a system.
Bitcoin Vs Ethereum: The Comparison
There are groups of Bitcoin and Ethereum fans right now, defending and opposing these two cryptocurrencies. This hype has been created in recent times when cryptocurrencies slowly started to gain momentum. Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency, so naturally more people will incline toward it. On the other hand, Ethereum didn’t create a revolution like Bitcoin; however, its creator learned from the mistakes of Bitcoin and thus added a set of new functions to the new cryptocurrency. If Bitcoin has grabbed the first position in the cryptocurrency ranking, Ether came as the second.
The defining features of Bitcoin and Ether
Concepts
Bitcoins enable peer-to-peer transactions and act like conventional currencies. Yet, it’s better than the fiat currencies because you don’t need to pay the high transaction fee and have a centralized authority to control and manage it.
Ethereum also enables peer-to-peer transactions with additional advantages. For instance, providing a platform for building smart contracts and applications. Through smart contracts, you will be able to exchange shares, money, assets, etc.
Fees
The transaction fees in Bitcoin are lesser than what you would expect in fiat money. You can pay the miner more money for more careful supervision on your transaction. With that said, a fee is an option; the transaction will still go on even if you don’t pay.
For Ethereum, you need to pay a minimal fee to transact successfully. The ether that you pay will be converted into a unit called gas. This gas is responsible for the inclusion of your transaction in the blockchain.
Time
For Bitcoin, it takes less than 10 minutes to add a block to the blockchain.
For Ether, you get to add a block in mere 15 seconds.
Mining
Miners in Bitcoin can validate any transaction with a method called proof of work. With this method, miners all over the world would be solving complicated calculations and competing against each other to add a block to the blockchain. When a miner adds a block, he gets paid in 12.5 bitcoins. The reward is expected to be halved every 210,000 blocks.
The method of Ethereum is a little different from Bitcoin’s proof of work. Ether uses a method called proof of stake. With this method, a miner can mine or validate transactions in blocks depending on the number of coins he owns. The more coins he has, the greater his mining power. The miner or validator receives three ether whenever they add a block, but unlike bitcoin, their reward won’t be halved.
Keep A Bit Review
If you are considering trading in Australia, Keep A Bit is your best choice as a broker. The broker trades both Bitcoin and Ethereum, so it shouldn’t be a problem for you. Opening an account is very easy; you only need to provide your documents for verification purposes. Keep A Bit reviews each and every document very carefully, so make sure you have everything authentic.
Keep A Bit offers a plethora of options for your deposit and withdrawal needs including bank wire transfer, credit and debit card transfer etc. The processing depends on your bank’s policy but other than that it’s typically swift. They are extra careful when it comes to funding and can ask about your information for completing a verification process. This is to ensure that your account is all secured and safe.
Their website is useful and is loaded with various information that will be instrumental for you. The site is mobile-friendly which means you can take it anywhere and still do the trading and check information. Other than that, the site also gives you full access to their educational tools and video tutorials. The video tutorials are beginner-friendly and help you understand the basic of brokerage.
Trustpilot KeepABit reviews
“A legitimate site where you can buy and sell bitcoins with no issues. It was recommended to me by my dad, and I have been using it for some time now. They are reliable.”
– Debra Poole
“My brother recommended their services, they offer great rates and transaction is super-fast.”
– Jaime Gregory
“Made great profits back to back the last two months. Good services and customer help.”
– Roberta Franklin
“I have been making my profits of 23% for the last two months. Having a great time with Keep A Bit.”
– Leticia Adkins
Bitcoin Vs Ethereum: Our final verdict
It depends on you as a user. Bitcoin works better as a peer to peer transaction system. While this is good for payment purposes, the profit margin gets halved for the miners. So, this can be a little drawback for the miners.
Ethereum, on the other hand, works great if you need to create smart contracts. One minor disadvantage of Ether is enough though they don’t halve the profit of miners, gaining a block might require you to spend a few cryptocurrencies. As for choosing a broker, go for Keep A Bit.
